Influence of novel coupling agents on mechanical properties of jute reinforced polypropylene composite

The modern technology relies heavily on the development of new materials having superior properties, such as mechanical and thermal properties along with toughness. Fiber reinforced composites have successfully proven their versatile qualities because of their specific properties e.g. high mechanical properties, stiffness, light weight etc. The potential of natural fiber based composites prepared mainly from jute as reinforcing fiber in polymer matrix has received much attention among the composite scientists [1–3]. Jute fibers are polar and of hydrophilic nature due to the presence of several hydroxyl groups in their cellulosic backbone. However, this is the most important disadvantage of using natural fiber in non-polar polymer like polypropylene (PP). Selection of proper coupling agents is important to improve the fiber-matrix interaction. The purpose of this study reported here is to investigate the effect of two monomers HEMA and EHA used as coupling agents on the performance of jute fabric (hessian cloth) PP composite. Hessian cloth (jute fabrics) was modified with 2hydroxy ethylmethylacrylate (HEMA) and 2-ethylhexylacrylate (EHA) by soaking in solution of different concentration of monomer in methanol for 5 min. Dicumyl peroxide was used as thermal initiator. The treated hessian cloth (HC) was dried at ambient temperature. Hessian cloth-polypropylene (Vestolen GmbH, Germany) composite was prepared by sandwiching two layers of HC and three layers of PP. The prepreg temperature, pressure and pressing time were 180 ◦C, 0.2 MPa and 5 min, respectively. The prepreg samples were cooled to room temperature, then cut to desired size in the mold and again heat-pressed at 130 ◦C for 5 min under 20 MPa pressure to get final composite. Tensile strength (TS) and three point bending strength (BS) of the composites were studied following DIN 53455 and DIN 53452 standard methods, respectively. The tensile as well as bending strength of the composite thus formed are shown in Fig. 1 as a function of monomer concentration. It is observed that